Downy teams up with Macy's for clean sheet promotion

By Alaric DeArment

NEW YORK — Macy’s and Procter & Gamble have started a promotional campaign to pitch P&G’s Ultra Downy April Fresh fabric softener. What’s unusual is how they’re doing it: by having a comedian sleep at Macy’s store in New York’s Herald Square.

Mike Birbiglia, who has appeared on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” and Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend," among other programs, often makes jokes about his problem with sleepwalking and is the author of the New York Times best-selling book “Sleepwalk with Me.” More than 70 million people in the United States have sleep disorders, and most are unaware of it, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Birbiglia will spend seven days sleeping in a Macy’s display window as part of the “Clean Sheet Week” challenge. The comedian, who joked about the campaign’s recognition of him as the “worst sleeper” at a press event Wednesday morning, will interact with the public through social networking media sites, including Twitter and Facebook.